How many lives does one fashion line live?
In the case of the Cardinali Collection, quite a few. The early-1970s line, last auctioned on KCET last year and briefly sold at Decades in 2005, has risen again – this time reemerging at Church boutique in West Hollywood, where it debuted on Tuesday night.
Longtime L.A.-resident Marilyn Cardinali Lewis, the woman behind the collection who also owned Hamburger Hamlet with her husband Harry, decided to try her hand in the fashion world in the late 1960s after the restaurant chain took off. Now in her late 70s, Lewis hasn’t lost her passion for design (she attended the collection’s Tuesday evening debut sporting a single oversized Chanel drop-earring), and said the past several years’ retro movement has inspired her to bring the collection out to the public, rather than keeping it in storage.
The line’s current incarnation, which was favored by the likes of Nancy Reagan, Dyan Cannon and Marlo Thomas the first time around, embraces a wide, but unmistakably vintage Seventies glam, aesthetic: from wool tweed coats, skirts and pantsuits to long silk gowns, floral chiffon prints and embellishment like gold brocade. Definitely don’t miss a glimpse of the luxe fur-trimmed velvet robe.
Each piece is one-of-a-kind — and for sale — but at prices ranging from about $2,800 to $6,000, the showcase is closer to period art than retail therapy.
“It’s got both elegance and and edge; each piece was really driven by the fabric and what I envisioned each material should be,” Cardinali said.
We dig. — Anne Riley-Katz
Church Boutique, 7277 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. 323.876.8887
[mappress]Photo: Cardinali with her goods.
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